Latest news about ethical consumerism

UK students take Canadian government to (kangaroo) court

Jan30

Written by:30/01/2012 17:42

Human and environmental abuses from the tar sands industry alleged

On Monday 30th January, People & Planet, the UK’s largest student activism network, enacted a kangaroo court outside the Canadian High Commission, to raise awareness of the Beaver Lake Cree indigenous community's legal case against the Canadian government for 19,000 treaty rights violations stemming from the Alberta tar sands industry.

The Canadian Government is attempting to have the case thrown out of court on highly-politicised technicalities to avoid answering the major questions the case poses about the environmental and human rights impacts of ‘the most destructive project on Earth’. The Co-operative's Toxic Fuels campaign has described the legal action as 'one of our best chances to stop tar sands expansion', as it could throw over half of planned industry expansion into legal limbo.

The court case falls just weeks before the EU’s expected vote to effectively ban tar sands, under the Fuel Quality Directive, February 23 in Brussels. The UK has thus far sided with extensive Canadian lobbying efforts, opposing the legislation.